The subject of this invention is a device and the corresponding process for transferring objects between open receptacles.
It may be necessary to transfer objects to accomplish some operations. The applicant thus considered baking nuclear fuel pellets to sinter their material. A large number of these pellets are placed in trays with rims open towards the top circulating on a manufacturing line. These trays are normally made of steel, but a transfer is necessary for baking because this metal would not resist the treatment temperatures. This is why similar receptacles will replace them temporarily, made of a more refractory material such as molybdenum. A manual transfer would not be very efficient, and would have to be done painstakingly and would require careful precautions to prevent damage to the objects which may be fragile or friable. And in any case it would be impossible in this application in which the pellets are radioactive.
A convenient, simple transfer device that does not necessitate a large drop height for the pellets is required for this case. This is the subject of this invention, but it can also be applied to other domains.
The device according to the invention comprises a rotating tray, a convex cover on at least one side of the tray and, with the tray, forming two slits facing each other, tracks each terminating in one of the slits, means of moving the receptacles between the tracks and the tray, and means of retaining the receptacles on the tray in the turning and turned positions.